Next year’s freshers cohort will be offered the chance to attend a consent and respect talk as part of the safety talk during freshers week.
The talk will be given by the current women’s officers, Mia Shantana Chaudhuri-Julyan and Lucy Elizabeth Robinson, and the aim is to have all future talks run by the women’s officers.
It was initially believed that the talks would be compulsory to attend, as a statement released by the women's officers stated that "from September there will officially be a compulsory (enforced by a fine) consent and respect talk which will be a segment that is part of the safety talk for freshers and new postgrads (formerly known as the fire safety talks)," but this has since been confirmed by the University to be false.
Only the fire safety segment of the talk is compulsory, and attendees can leave before the latter part containing the consent and respect talk without incurring a fine.
The women’s officers have further described the policy as an “amazingly positive step forward for York” and thanked the officers and staff members who helped organise the change.
Although only first year undergraduates and new postgraduates have to attend the safety talk, the officers are developing a website version of the talk that will be available to all students.
They also announced that they were developing an online reporting system for sexual assault that could be used anonymously if need be.
YUSU Community and Well-being Officer Scott Dawson said: “I welcome the amazing work that the Women's Officers are doing. They have been elected to provide these talks and they have been in consultation with students, colleges and the University to achieve this."
Second year Business Finance student Ben Froughi criticised the new policy, saying: “I doubt that a consent class has ever managed to prevent a single rape. No student arrives at a university not knowing if forcing someone to have sex is acceptable or not."
University spokesperson Alistair Keely defended the decision to introduce the classes.
“The University has agreed to support the Students' Union's request to incorporate gender-neutral sexual consent briefings for all new students as an aspect of the health and personal safety induction we give at the start of the academic year," he said.
“The aim is to help raise awareness and to help reduce the likelihood of harassment. Many other universities have undertaken similar information sessions and we believe they will complement other initiatives across campus.
“We will also continue to collaborate with city-wide initiatives in the area of health and personal safety so that York students are well informed and enjoy a safe experience."
Update: The university has told York Vision non-attendence of the fire safety talk, not the consent talk, is sanctioned with a fine. However, the talks occur during the same induction event.
Simple answer to this COMPULSORY feminist brainwashing by @UniOfYork and lets be totally clear that is what this really is, male students to walk around with a massive male guilt complex. Male students BOYCOTT the @UniOfYork, hit them where it really hurts FUNDING £££££££, take your money else where .Don’t tolerant thus enforced anti male feminist propaganda, this is blatant men bashing by the academics and universities. Men have had enough of being negatively portrayed by feminist academics and the media.
I sincerely hope that many students will boycott this talk; £30 is a fair price for freedom of thought and opposing Feminazis
it would be a shame if enrollment decline at the man hating university
Will be telling my friends not to study here now, feminism is cancer
Well that’s fucking ridiculous
An anonymous reporting system… well there is certainly no chance that could ever be abused… oh no wait, actually time and time again such completely idiotic systems are in fact inevitably abused. York Uni will certainly end up on the wrong end of a deformation suit, I guarantee it. Does York have a faculty of law and do the idiots in the administration not have the sense to consult them for a sensible legal opinion in advance of this complete shambles? Then again this it York Uni… the collectively unfit for purpose institution that cancelled any and all campus events for International Men’s Day 2015. Maybe these muppets should just go full-out and have a vote on changing their charter to a women’s only university, I honestly have no idea why any men would ever want to study on such a campus anyway.
While I’m not particularly on the idea of consent classes, what really concerns me is this talk is given by students. Imagine if that was the case with the fire talk nobody would take it seriously. Women’s officers tend not to be the most unbiased people on subjects were women are involved and they could be lecturing people who are older and more knowledgable than themselves. If it has to be done at least do it properly perhaps being done by a male or female police officer. Is there anybody who can tell me what qualifies the women’s officers to give this talk? Its a controversial postion already.
Consent = voluntary agreement to something
Compulsory = Feminist idea of consent
This is nothing more than feminist brainwashing.
Mandatory consent, eh? Makes sense.
How is this man bashing? Women are often schooled on “HOW NOT TO BECOME A RAPE VICTIM” as if it’s all women’s fault. CaptHaddock why don’t you take your BS hatred towards women and shove it up your ass!
So the fact alot of rapes happen because men dont have a clear concise understanding of what consent is and what it means, and the fact that there are now classes to ensure there is absolutely no way to misunderstand the issue of consent (therefor nullifying this excuse at rape trials) is feminist brainwashing? Anyone disagreeing with this is obviously worried they will fail the class….. and uh…. it doesnt say its strictly for males just for freshers….
What a stupid idea. How about we have “not murdering” classes or “dont-punch-people” classes.
Clearly rapists know that it’s wrong, but they just think they can get away with it. How about we have a proper justice system which deters rapists in the first place and stop taking the “regret it after a night out” rapes, so the police can focus on the real cases and jail some of these vile rapists.
“No student arrives at a university not knowing if forcing someone to have sex is acceptable or not”.
Since there’s a serious epidemic of rape on college and university campus sites, it should be properly addressed. And one of the ways to address that is with compulsaty consent classes.
Either: people are, in fact, arriving at university unknowing of what constitutes rape, or people are arriving at university not caring if they rape. Both of these options are equally terrifying.
This is not about “male guilt”. This is about the fact that one in four women will be sexually assaulted, abused or raped at least once in their life, so to make it about ones “feelings” is truly reprehensible.
I don’t think there should be a fine given the financial struggles of students already, however I’m all for the class. There should also be classes on a host of moral issues, it’s not like rape is the only bad things students are capable of, so I don’t see why there shouldn’t be courses to address other vile behaviours, there’s just as much physical violence as there is rape in the uk, there’s homophobia, classicism, xenophobia and racism, you can’t just call it a day at addressing sexual assault, what sense does that make?
Also, the anonymous reporting is rather futile, universities aren’t the police, report crimes to the police and encourage those to do so.
what a nazi “burp I get paid” festival.
Suggestion to young GUYS forced to attend: blow a BIG joint before this compulsory guilt vomit, bring your choice of ear bud music. sit through it avoid the fine… oh yes; & smile.
Or of course BOYCOTT these nazi thugs.
What gives YUSU women’s officers the authority to define consent? Or lecture other students about their sex lives? This isn’t about preventing abuse; this is about Mia and Lucy’s egos.
I’m a woman and I’m horrified at what these Radical Feminists are doing. How DARE they. Compulsory? FINES? What MADNESS is this?
Good heavens above!
Will NO-ONE stand up to these women?
I sincerely hope the young men demand that women MUST prove THEY have consent from the MAN before a man EVER has sex with them!
I also hope that maybe, just MAYBE, women will stop drinking themselves SENSELESS to the point where they end up in bed with Tom, Dick AND Harry’s dick, then, to save their face in the morning, they scream “RAPE!!” and Tom, Dick AND Harry’s lives disintergrate into chaos and hell, whilst she gets endless cuddles and hugs and support….and £COMPO, of course….
LOOK! Take this from an Ol’ Bird, get BACK to REAL relationships, get to KNOW each other first, STOP DRINKING and for keriste’s sake, get BACK to Making Love, and not having Sex, because Making Love is SPECIAL and BEAUTIFUL and you save it for someone special, not Strangers In The Night….
Do NOT be bullied into living this life by ANYONE, by your peers, by society, but least of all by Fecking Radical Feminists who are, in my view, normally Misandrists and very forceful, spoiled brats who demand that everything MUST be done THEIR way, or, it’s the highway….
STOP making out that ALL men are just predatory sex beasts waiting to rape women at any given moment!
STOP with all the Porn Stuff, the Sexting Stuff, the Narcissistic Personality Disorder Stuff, the Endless Selfies Stuff and the Me Me Me Stuff too.
Let EVERYONE be once again ACCOUNTABLE for the actions, RESPONSIBLE for the CONSEQUENCES of their actions too…and LEARN from your mistakes.
Stop dressing like sluts and stop behaving like them too
(All together now “Ooh, Lizzie, you NASTY woman, that’s VICTIM BLAMING! And we WON’T be blamed for ANYTHING!)
Sigh….
NO MAN in this country is now safe…NO MAN, no matter what age he may be, because The Radical Ones have created this Rape Culture culture, taking over Universities in the USA first, and now, they’re doing exactly the same here…brainwashing young women, telling them they can do WHATEVER they so desire and no-one must EVER touch them….nor must they have ANY shame, nor guilt…
Yup, roll up, gals, just pick a man, have rampant sex with him, then screech “RAPE! RAPE!” and collect your money..and Loads of attention….
I’m so sick of it….
Sick to death of it all…
How many INNOCENT men are ALREADY in prison, because of these Radical Feminists and what they’re preaching?
Truly, they’d rather see their gender harmed, than tell them to be sensible and cautious…
There will ALWAYS be BAD men.
There will ALWAYS be BAD women too.
(“No, Lizzie, women are never bad!” )
Wanna bet?
There will ALWAYS be humans who simply arrive on the planet wrongly wired up, or, they become that day, dangerous, that is, through life treating them horrendously…
WHERE has Common Sense gone?
We will NEVER live in a world where a woman can walk starkers down the street, being as sexual as she so pleases, drunk as a skunk, without anyone touching her, because ONE of those wrongly wired up folks might just be lurking around the next corner and BAM!
Same with men being at risk from women too….BAM!
HOW did we get from loving, friendly, gentle relationships where a VERY gradual build-up in that relationship happened, with Making Love being the ultimate thing, to one where not even a DATE is asked for now, just Wham! Bam! Thank You, Ma’am/Sir, either with just 2 people, or, half the fecking neighbourhood invited round?
Hmmmm…..?
HOW?
By letting go of ALL that held us safe.
By allowing those with EXTREME views to dictate how young people, young women in particular, should behave…
You see, I think that many young women loathe all this Sex With Strangers stuff, getting themselves blind drunk in order to cope…and I also believe the many young men feel exactly the same….
The Tenderness has gone, you see, pushed out by people who have NO CONNECTION to Love, nor Tenderness, nor Magical Thoughts, just basic, rampant, disconnected sex, which, for them, is purely a bodily need, like shitting….
UGH!
It’s not actually *their* fault, for *their* brains are just connected up that way..They don’t GET ‘love’ nor ’emotions’…everything is merely scientific, functional…
Sorry, gals, but most humans need LOVE, they need touch and tender, respect and responsibility. They want to know they’re SPECIAL to someone and that the someone they’re with is SPECIAL to them too.
It’s WAY past time that women apologized to men for this shocking Radical Feminism that’s tearing men apart..tearing women apart too.
STOP being bullied by them.
We should NEVER have to got to the INSANE stage where MEN have to now PROVE a woman gave them consent, in case she cries Rape later on.
How come MEN have to prove this and not women? Or is that going to be finally equalled up too?
How would women feel if they’d ‘had sex’ with a man, only for him to report THEM the next day?
One day, you will have sons, you see, sons who may be falsely accused by women, for many reasons…and you will start to Think Differently.
Get back your Self-Respect, gals…and watch the men GIVE you back their Respect too. Men are now SO ANGRY, HURT and UPSET about how they are being viewed…and I understand that entirely.
It is all so, SO WRONG!
I’m the daughter of a WONDERFUL man and the mother of one too….My Dad would be 101 were he still here today, my son is 21. Yup….
I have a daughter too, but these days, I’m more worried about him. He’s a kind, gentle young man, just like the grandfather he sadly never got to meet..and he, like my Dad, would NEVER hurt nor harm a woman, treat them with respect…
But women have lost their self-respect, thrown it away and replaced it with booze, to soften the horror of how life has become.
Tell these Radical Feminists to get OUT of our universities, to STOP messing with your brains, with their crazy ‘compulsory’ ideas. The ONLY compulsory things in life are life..and death…everything else is ‘someone else’s rules’.
Start LOVING MEN again…and watch them blossom….Tell them how bloody wonderful they are, LET them open doors for you, be protective and love every moment of it, for men have a NATURAL instinct to protect…LET THEM.
STOP TRYING TO BE MEN!
You are WOMEN and there is NOTHING wrong with being Absolutely Sober, Absolutely Feminine and filled with Maternal Instinct….
Yup, REALLY, it’s OK to be who you want to me….truly, it is,
IF you want to be a boxer though, that’s OK too…whatever floats your boats, but never, never, NEVER be A Radical Feminist’s Idea of What A Woman Should Be, else, you’ll end up as Dotty as them, you see…angry and resentful and a misandrist too…which is AS bad as a Misogynist.
We are here upon this BEAUTIFUL planet for such a very, VERY short time, so spend that time in LOVE, with friends, with men, with each other. Let the men put their arms around you, love you, kiss you, be faithful and loyal to you…and give them the same in return….
Try it, for MAGIC might just happen….
And remember, that The Good Men And True, which is the majority, left to their own devices, would ensure a TRUE rapist would NEVER rape again……
Women matter, but you know what, SO DO MEN and it’s WAY PAST TIME that they were told this BY women.
HeForShe, absolutely, but NOT WITHOUT SheForHe too.
Your lives are over soon enough, spend them Making Love, Being Loyal, Being HAPPY, Loving and Being Loved.
Much love to you all……
Hey look, it’s a troglodyte! *looks at CaptHaddock83*
This is exactly what the diminishing number of young men at university need: – Another attack on their maleness by a system seemingly determined to ensure all men feel guilty simply because of their sex.
Disgusting.
Utterly disgusting sexism and misandry.
oh yes, what a worthy cause. All men ARE potential rapists after all and NO first year undergraduate knows how sexual consent works.
Did you know that in the US in 2010, 46% of the victims of non-consensual sexual intercourse were men raped by women?
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
So where are the compulsory consent classes for women?
The ONLY goal in modern feminism is to remove ALL accountability from women of any bad things happening in world.
You are literally part of the problem if you assume only female students will benefit from this — men can be raped and taken advantage of as well. In the US 1 in 5 women at uni are sexually assaulted so it is a clear problem that should be addressed
Given that women force men to penetrate at rates nearly equal to rates for rape according to the CDC…will these women’s officers be addressing the equal need for women to obtain consent from men? Or will this (as I am anticipating) be limited solely to addressing the standard feminist narrative that “only women need to consent…men are all predators”?
As long as women are taught to get consent before kissing or touching men.
These comments are stupid there’s not talk of gender in the article so i assume both genders will be made to attend “sexual consent briefings for all new students”
Regarding the edit, £20 says that the fire safety section is the last part of the talk so people are forced to sit through it.
Both genders will be educated on consent.
But this is important, considering studies like these (http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/01/lots-of-men-dont-think-rape-is-rape.html), which, granted, need to be redone with a much larger sample of people, male and female. I know women who have been raped by men and I do know a man who was raped by a woman. It seems though that the higher rate is on the side of men as the perpetrators. Men and women can benefit from these types of classes. Considering the amount of sexual assault that happens at university, why would you be against something that tries to reduce it?
I hope you are going to be clear to new students when the non-compulsory part of the talk begins.
Just to throw a little clarity here, the consent talks will be an additional part of the fire safety talks the University currently do and a fine is put in place for that to ensure all students attend for insurance purposes.
Jus’ sayin’